No, I have not put up our Christmas tree yet. I am waiting until after Thanksgiving to put it up, but I had some prepping to do. 

I love our little Christmas tree! Every year we decorate it with the same rustic ornaments (I added a couple new ones last year, but that was kind of a battle). This year I want to add another rustic touch. I have to thank my dad for this one...I wouldn't have been able to do it without him (he is always helping me with DIY projects...well, the ones the involve power tools). So, out to the woods we went. 

Dad cut a fallen tree into sections, and I picked one that I thought would work for my project. The piece that I picked was pretty large...so Dad had to cut it in half. We ended up hauling both pieces back to the house, because I wasn't sure which one I liked better. 

Once we got back from the woods we had another task to tackle. (Note: By we I really mean Dad...power tools were still needed for this step.) We had to drill a hole in the center of the stump. How big did we need to make the hole? That is a good question...a question that I still don't really know the answer to. I didn't actually get our Christmas tree down to measure it before we started this project...one because I knew it would be too tempting to put up if it was in my way somewhere else in the house, two because I needed Dane's help getting it down, and he wasn't home. However, there was a random Christmas tree in the shed that we used to determine the size of our hole...fingers crossed that our tree fits! 

Once I got home I started sealing the log. I used two coats of a pine stain and sealer. This step needs to be done in a well ventilated area outside! It is really smelly! I made sure to get the stain deep in all of the cracks of the bark. I really like the look of the darker stump. 

What do you think? I am not wishing away Thanksgiving, but I am excited to get my tree up. 

Oh, and I have an extra stump with the whole already drilled! If you are interested in having your own stump tree stand, let me know!